SAHAYA is a non-profitable society with a mission to impact the lives of under privileged children, enabling them to maximize their potential and change their lives. Sahaya works primarily in the field of education.

Its Been a month i have been part of this society but i have loads of memories attached with the organisation.To start on with,i'l brief my first day experience.The journey began and i reached the school with my gang of 4nz.We were greeted by tiny tots questioning us about our well being,complimenting us(good strtri8),next we headed on to the classes allotted and attended a demo session.After the session ended we were given a short intro about the objectives,teaching methodologies etc and there ended my first day.The next session i was allotted a class and i had to take up the session.I had to teach basic topics like primary colors,details about winged birds(whch would be useful for the coming science fair).I felt it was an easier task(but it wasn't that easy).When questioned to list out 12 colours,one of the student stood up and said mam u might be wondering if i say this but there are more than 12 colours(i smiled silently).When questioned about winged birds i was starled to see students telling out so many facts(evn i dint knw few).The last 10 min of the session was question hour/Puzzle's Time.Before i could start students started to ask me tons of questions and i could hardly answer .It was time to leave and students requested to stay back and questioned me if i was cumn in the af8rnoon,when i replied i had to leave students gathered around asking me not to leave and asked me to come even in the coming sessions too.I was really carried away by the care showered.This was my first teaching experience. There are few things i specifically like about the organisation,there is no one to boss you around,even the president,treasurer,secretary treat you as a friend and one is free to express views at any instant of time.One has the freedom to implement own methodologies in teaching students with no objections raised. Once you are part of sahaya and attend a session or two I'm sure one would stick to the organisation till the end.

Children with special needs only want what we all want - to be accepted.
We believe that a book is all you need to change the future of an less-privileged child and a big thanks to donors for giving kids a joy of reading...

Books like Chandamama, Secret Seven, The Famous Five, and of course the evergreen Tinkle never disappoint their readers and are always a delight. Its amazing how little kids find joy in almost all the simplest things in life, be it a lollipop or just a simple little story.The smile on their face is priceless.

Few days left to give kids a joy of reading by establishing libraries and engage children with books and get them onto the habit of reading.

Have you made your contribution yet? Donate gently used/new books to book collection drive..

The SAHAYA Society's MY LIBRARY, book collection drive was launched at the AAROHAN 10 [Youth carnival organized by STED], from Oct 4th to Oct 10. This drive will continues till Nov 10th.

We think that we need to bring in people who are outside this whole project of sahaya.

One of the objectives and imaginative ways of doing this would be to establishing libraries and engage children with books and get them onto the habit of reading. We got to collect books from a variety of sources, we have to weed them out, and take what is useful and valuable and distribute it through schools to children who do not have access to it.

Contributions could come as children’s story books, coloring books or activity books. Such books will be distributed at schools. Other books, which are not usable or relevant to children, such as novels, old magazines, could also be donated. We will have those recycled and made into drawing books or notebooks for children.

The entire exercise of collection, segregation, recycling and disbursal will be completed in 20 days.

Sahaya is now associating with respective colleges of the volunteers with sahaya in the city. It would help collect a huge number of books.

Try looking back into your childhood – How about that instant smile which lit up on our faces at the words “story-time”? Story -time meant an escape from math and grammar into a world far far away, with promises of excitement. How many of us were not tempted to look for magic beans and climb up our very own Beanstalk, or dream of dancing in a ball as Cinderella?

Or the time when Daddy read us a bed time story every night, before tucking us in? Our kids might not be as lucky to have their loved one read to them every night, but they sure do have us. For our bacchas, just the thought of having someone to read to them, sitting at their schools when everything in their text books just becomes a lag, is a welcome and pleasant change.

Books like Chandamama, Secret Seven, The Famous Five, and of course the evergreen Tinkle never disappoint their readers and are always a delight. Its amazing how little kids find joy in almost all the simplest things in life, be it a lollipop or just a simple little story.The smile on their face is priceless. So,this year at Sahaya, our kiddos are definitely in for a booky- treat!

The SAHAYA Society's MY LIBRARY, book collection drive that seeks to source as many books as possible for children and raise the general awareness about the several million children who do not have access to Books.

The initiative will be launched at the AAROHAN '10 , on Oct 4th and go on till Oct 10. Anyone who wishes to donate books for children could come to the venue and place their books in the stall to be set up at the venue.

We believe that a book is all you need to change the future of an less-privileged child. So come donate one to the Sahaya Societies Book donation this year, and you could help guarantee thousands of less-privileged children the future they deserve.

As SAHAYA completes two years and entered into third year, the rapid growth of the organization and the impending challenges that it face, drive home the need to take a hard re-look at the charter of the society and decide on a course which would set the society on a path of growth with consolidation.

I feel it’s time to sit back and collectively decide on some of the fundamental questions:
Where are we? Where do we want to be in the next five years and how do we get there?

It is now imperative that we look back at the two years that have gone by, assess the successes and failures and chart out a path for the next five years. We would also be using the general meeting to have an open house discussion on the future direction and focus of the society. Based on my experience here children are eager to learn and accomplish more complex skills: reading, writing in the form of moral values, recognize cultural and individual differences and are able to manage most of their personal needs and grooming with minimal assistance.Let me walk you through some of the achievements of the society in the year 2008/09.

The past year has been a roller-coaster ride for the society. It started with a positive note, half way through alarm bells started ringing and at the end of the year, there is again some hope. When I look back they were few things to come in the horizon. We therefore started with a comprehensive and aggressive agenda for this academic year. Some of the important issues decided to take up in true perspective are following:
• Stronger and more effective relation with volunteers.
• Review of the SAHAYA structure.
• A more comprehensive events in the calendar year.

With all realistic aspirations and vivid imaginations, we analyze what has to be executed at an internal level as well as an external level to identify all opportunities and threats. On the other hand society having short-term goals, medium-term goals and long-term goals, initially we have to attain short-term goals fairly then steps up to the medium-term, then to the long-term goals. SAHAYA society co-ordinate these goals in a step wise manner so that they do not conflict with each other.

The positive coincidence is our volunteers are working hard at being responsible, being good and doing right. They are now more reasonable to share and cooperate. I believe our volunteers at this age are becoming more aware of themselves as individuals for a good cause which leads to adopt more number of schools in the near future.

My appreciations to all the patrons of SAHAYA society who are professional and committed to the pursuit of society welfare. SAHAYA society tries hard to exceed what people expect, by being personally involved and I ensure that our sessions will bring glory to each and every child, which will make "Future Perfect :-)".

something different, something new,... a new idea has to be implemented for students.. what would that be...

thinking...thinking... putting mind and hands to work together for something new.....thinking.... this continued...

An idea is known only if it is shared...
One fine day has come and the idea has took its root ...to give shelter to the students.

One among the best available resources used by the team has led to implement new ideas for students which helps them to make things interesting and attractive. Among those available things would be .

As part of this event drawing, colouring, making attractive cards would help a lot. FLASH CARDS are something which can be used in daily routine by the volunteers to make teaching different to children and make them learn in a easy way.

I would like to share few things while making these flash cards.. at first you feel like its something different..may be students wont get that attracted to these cards and then the same old teaching method would be better..but guys at the end of the day when these cards are done with the whole you yourself feel more attracted towards the cards and you would definitely feel..ayyo how nice it would be if i was a kid because i would learn again a,b,c...days..weeks..months.. through this cards and enjoy that beautiful moment..But still not to worry more cards yet to be prepared join the fun....

Well , this reminds me of my school days , where we eagerly waited for a morning flag hoisting followed by the cultural events to drench ourselves in the rain of joy..!

For me, this was my first Independence day at SAHAYA..

We all Sahayans were expected to be gathered at ZPHS,kukatpally by 8 in the morning for the independence day celebration.Flags are given out to volunteers who wear them proudly to show their patriotism towards India. The spirit of the celebration could be very well seen on the bright faces of every student. We then began the day with flag hoisting. We had 3 flags to be hoisted that gave us three times joy of the celebration!!

First we had the NCC flag hoisting followed by the primary section and then the secondary section flag. The crowd stood with great respect for its National Anthem which actually showed their love towards their mother nation. We then had a speech by the chief guest and the principal of the school. The cultural event started with a very beautiful Patriotic song which was very well sung by one of the school teachers . Students participated with a lot of enthusiasm in the singing and dancing events.The children also very confidently gave speech in Hindi , Telugu and English languages.

As the cultural events came to an end the school children dispersed and we Sahayans had stayed back for an event of quiz and group discussions which was especially organized for we volunteers. As we gathered in the class room for the event we saw picturesque surroundings, mesmerizing beauties in class rooms and their blackboards I wondered for a while how beautifully the children decoratedtheir classrooms. Coming to quiz competition the first round was in written where 5 groups were selected while others had gone for group discussions. The volunteers had great fun and enjoyed the most, participating in the events!!

We therefore, ended up another great session of SAHAYA with the same joy and enthusiasm doubling the excitement of our Independence Day!!

Independence Day, came again the 64th time. Every year its an event which I enjoy more than my birthday. This time with Shamshiguda School children. All the students were busy in decorating their classrooms and everyone is dressed in uniform(Gud work Infotech guys). Me and volunteers from Yellenki were there to represent Sahaya. Flag was hoisted by local MLA. Its sad that, he left the school without a single word with the students. We were treated as guests by school management and asked us to sit on chairs just behind the stage(and just above the stage too :P). After a long speech by school headmaster, Saskriti Team and HHS have given money prizes to students who scored good marks in SSC. And our turn came. I went on to stage and briefly explained about Sahaya. After that quiz winners received prizes by the hands of their HM. They left us only after having sweet :).

Then headed to KP school for volunteers' events. When we reached KP School, the speeches were still going on. To know what happened next, read the below post by Neelima.

Every Independence Day brings to all of us a sense of pride for our nation and helps us celebrate its spirit. This Independence Day was very special to me ,it was my first Independence Day with Sahaya.

It was an apparently gloomy day but, the tri colours dancing in pride across the streets and the people commemorating sacrifices of the legendaries brightened up the day. The spirit of independence was in the air. To celebrate this spirit we Sahayans gathered at ZPHS,Kukatpally. As we entered the school I was elated to see the huge ground of the school swarmed with ebullient children breaking the barriers of colour, creed and religion to celebrate the Independence Day. The event started with the Flag hoisting followed by the march past of the NCC cadets with discipline as its decorate. A welcome speech by the the Principal and message from Chief Guest followed. Later there were some foot tapping dance numbers, the patriotic songs sung by the students and speeches given by the children which though crude, roused the patriotism amongst the audience. Next the alumni of the school shared their experience on how they excelled in their 10th and encouraged their peers to to do equally good or even better and make their teachers proud. Each and every secondary classroom was beautifully decorated for the independence day, each special in its own way. Some classes made portrays of freedom fighters, while others made a vibrant rangoli of tri-coloured Indian map showcasing blossoming talent and patriotism.

After the children dispersed we Sahayans had a quiz competition followed by a group discussion in which all the volunteers enthusiastically participated(or were forced to J). The quiz was fun and meticulously organized. Cheers to the organizing team!!!.

And thus ended one of the most memorable Independence day in my life. I’m happy to see Sahaya toddle to free the Mother India from the shackles of illiteracy… celebratingthe true essence of Freedom for India. And I am proud to be a part of it.

To see a smile in someone’s face because of me/you really feels like heart rippling. It was a great and touching moment for us to see a bunch of smiles which made the thirst for our cause more stronger and I don’t have words to express the feeling that we all had.

The smiley day was 13 August, 2010, the day which made us feel richer than a prince(ss). We had all the kids

assembled together and were properly assigned volunteers. Even though there wasn't proper space inside the event place, all the kids were well managed throughout and it made me to remember the schooling days.

A cloudy Friday morning at ZPHS Shamshiguda volunteers scrambling about… “Do we have enough copies of question papers? The answer papers are here! Yes, enough for everyone. Which classes to go first? Is the event place big enough???….”

Actually forgot to mention one thing. Actually I was kinda blown away when the kids asked me ” how are you ? ” giving me shake-hands. A really nice welcome.

About the event itself, lemme introduced you the innovative and intresting round names introduced by Election
and his team....

Round #

Round Name

Description

Number of Questions

Points

Round 1

AdukkoCheptam

We wil ask questions related
to Politics, Sports, Movies

15 Questions, 3 per team

10 points for direct Q.
5 points for passed Q

Round 2

WordMaster

Team has to pick a letter from
chits. The team has to tell
words start with the chosen
letter within 1 minute. They
also have to spell the word.

5 Questions, 1 per team

Total 4 points per word.
2 for word, 2 for spelling.

Round 3

Gajini

One student per team is
chosen for this round.
Students will be shown some
objects for 30 sec. Now they
will be given 1 minute to write
down the objects they have
seen.

1Question

1 point for object

Round 4

VikramBethal

We will tell a story of famous
personality and ask questions
from the story. One story per
team.

15 Questions. 5 per team.

5 points per question

Round 5

PustakalaPurugu

We will ask questions from
academics(Social, Science,
Maths)

9 Questions, 3 per team

10 points for direct Q
5 points for passed Q.

After the preliminary round we sorted out the best 5 from each class making 5 teams each consisting of 5 = 5teams, 25 members.

With these 5 teams Sandeep and amer started second round AdukkoCheptam. Audience cheering for their favourite team alon with shakel... had a great fun time.

In the same way sundeep and his team done with remaining rounds..... the rounds kids enjoyed most was GAJAJNI round. Kids were given 1 i time to see n remember 25 items and they need to write those items on paper.

And the other most interesting part of the day was kids were decorating their class rooms for independence day celebrations to be held today.[15 Aug].

It wasn’t one of those perfect sunny days. In fact the day was a rainy one with flooded roads and traffic blocks everywhere which could make one lazy and lethargic and not really enthusiastic, especially if it was for doing something voluntary. Despite all this the first day of official SAHAYA beginning for the year began and ended on a great note. Amazingly all the volunteers turned up braving all the odds and bad weather. The dark depressing cloudy day was soon forgotten on seeing the curious cheerful bright faces of the children. All the kids (6th, 7th, 8th and 9th standards/grades in school) were excited to meet us and likewise the volunteers were equally excited at meeting them for the first time.

The days surpriizing moment is call for a meet by the school managment of ZPHS kukatpaly. We provided them with te years agenda based on the lessons we learnt past years and received few suggetions not exactly few bt many. Surprisingly, the aproach from management was really +ve and the meet session was just like charging up our enthusisam and buiding up confidence in us. Their suggetions and proposals were as same as our objectives and year agenda and are lot more about life skills motivation. After this exciting meet all the volunteers were having great enthusiasm and were very eager to start off the days great session.By the time it was lunch break and after Rajsekhars great efforts in allocating volunteers to all the classes not just in ZPHS K bt in Moosapet too. We all dispersed just for lunch and again grouped up for commencing the days most awaiting session.

The icebreaking session began with the usual introductions but with a twist. It was just like as below. After this exciting beginning, all the kids introduced themselves with great enthusiasm.

Volunteers in 6th and 7th faced the same experience as if they were in boxing court with 50-60 students fighting them.:-)

As a solution we took them to ground for a playing games.

Current Expression:

hurreeey by kids:-)....

and huffffffffff by volunteers....:-/

With some re leaf we divided them in to teams to play Co-Co.

The cheerful kids with their enthusiasm and energy levels especially in the Co-Co game and volunteers along with newbies were great and had great day. The not so perfect day ended on a great note with each of the volunteers having had lots of fun, more then fun they had great challenges in first session and looking forward with eagerness towards spending more time with these little ones.

Third year of sahaya saw a great response from the people who broke the barriers of cast, creed and religious differences and came together to empower little kids through education so that such superficial things would not influence their decisions and judgments in the future. Number people turned UP for joining SAHAYA this year.

We started off, BANG ON this year with cricket match with volunteers who out played and the other week we started induction in 3 centers with bunch of volunteers who were more enthusiastically turned up dedicated sweethearts filled with gusto. The induction went smoothly; with kids welcoming the teaching volunteers with warmth and helping us bring a sense of mission and purpose in our lives.

This year goes like this

English Project:

The English Project is the primary project that SAHAYA runs in every centre that we engage with. The following are the details of the project.

SAHAYA uses the ENGLISH for schools curriculum, a basic Series for teaching English, prepared by SAHAYA editorial team. This consists of various levels of program.

Computer Project:

Through the Computer Project we hope to teach basic computer skills.

Personality development and awareness:

These are structured awareness and exposure building programs. Every month, specific programs are organized towards career awareness and general awareness including workshops,talent programs etc. They increase general exposure, give the children an idea of various career and higher education options and also motivate them to perform better by understanding the various opportunities that lie ahead.

SCHEDULE

7 active months in a year

2 sessions per week, each 2 hours long

7 months X 4 weeks X 2 classes = 56 classes a year = 112 hours / year

So Sahaya 'ns be creative, give out your best with great enthusiasm. Volunteers enroll every class in log books that will be maintained by School heads and post your feedback in orkut and blog with out failure on the same night. Feedback format in orkut posts will be revised soon based on syllabus that we will be following for this academic year.